Conditions at 6:00 - high winds and 12*
Expected later - a mix of sun and cloud and 14*
I don't know about Brenda but I have to admit I'm a wee bit nervous about this evening. We are well prepared but we have no idea what to expect. Tonight is registration so we're going to be there for registration from 6:30 to 7:00. Then class starts at 7:00.
For our first night we are going to spend some talking about knife cuts, such as fine dice, course chop, brunois, batonette, julienne, (just to had that little bit of french cooking terms) mis en place (Lloyd just recently learned this one) and so on. We are going to slice and dice our way through potatoes and onions and leeks to practice cutting then use those ingredients to make Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup for those of us in the English speaking world). We're going to do two batches, one with onions and one with leeks so we can compare the two flavours. This is the very first recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook. It is the simplest soup in the world. While the soup is simmering we're going to talk about food safety. We figure it won't be news to most people but feel it's a good reminder and we would be irresponsible teachers if we didn't talk about it some.
Then we are going to eat our soup, along with some of Brenda's wonderful home made bread, and decide as a group where we would like to go with this class. It's very much a work in progress. We have no idea who might sign up, what they are looking for or what their skill level is. It's going to be interesting!
Here's the recipe for tonight:
Potage Parmentier
(Leek or Onion and Potato Soup)
Leek and potato soup smells good, tastes good and is simplicity itself to make.
3 to 4 cups peeled, potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups thinly sliced leeks or yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 quarts of water
1 tbsp. salt
4 to 6 tbsp. whipping cream OR 3 tbsp soft butter
2 to 3 tbsp minced parsley or chives
Simmer the vegetables, water and salt, partially covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until very tender. Blend with a hand blender, or regular blender ( or put through a food mill). Check seasoning.
Can be made ahead to this point and stored in the fridge,
When ready to serve, reheat and just before serving, remove from heat and add either cream or butter. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parsley or chives.
Makes about 2 quarts, serving 6 to 8 people.
From: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by
Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
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Yesterday there was a great picture on the front page of the Guardian of people on the bridge. The news tells us there were approximately 10,000 people taking part. The fund raising total won't be officially announced until sometime in October as they leave the sites open for more pledges for a few weeks longer but so far they estimate it to be around $200,000. There was no registration fee, which surprised me and I;m sure some people didn't fund raise. I did hear that the people who run the bridge were donating one dollar for every registered walker so that would be $20,000 right off the bat. The three of us raised close to $1,000 so we can be very proud of our contribution. Bernie and Brenda took some great photos as well so I need to get them sent to me so I can do a small scrapbook. I'll also get Brenda to save the newspaper article from yesterday. I tried to go on line this morning but it's not there. I went to the Guardian archives but that doesn't include the photo.
It's a very windy day today. I just heard on the news that the cruise ship that was in the harbour yesterday ended up staying overnight, as there were high winds headed for Newfoundland from hurricane Igor so they don't want to be out in the Atlantic under those conditions. Can't say I blame them. I'd be pretty grateful if I were a passenger on that ship. Good thing we're not walking across the bridge today.
Speaking of the bridge, there are still a few achy joints this morning but not as much as yesterday.
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